There is a trend in electronics towards becoming shapeable (flexible, stretchable or printable), which allows electronic components to be arbitrarily reshaped after fabrication. This unique feature offers new unexplored functionalities for the markets of consumer electronics and eMobility. Shapeable electronics and optoelectronics have been developed already for a few years.

Very recently, we added a new member to this family - the shapeable magnetic sensorics, which pave the way towards the development of a unique class of devices with important functionality being not only shapeable and fast, but also with the ability to react and respond to a magnetic field. Shapeable magnetic sensor devices could enable the fabrication of, e.g. health monitoring systems, where large-angle folding of the micrometer-sized functional elements is a crucial prerequisite for a successful implementation.

In the ERC project SMaRT we aim to develop shapeable magnetoelectronics to the industry-ready product and integrate these magnetic field sensorics into flexible large area multifunctional devices consisting of flexible batteries, communication modules and different types of sensing elements, e.g. environmental, chemical, temperature.

Paper featured on the back cover page of Physica Status Solidi (RRL) - Rapid Research Letter

Our paper on the experimental and theoretical study of curvature effects in parabolic nanostripes is highlighted with a back cover page of Physica Status Solidi (RRL) - Rapid Research Letter.

In this work we present experimental and theoretical study of curvature-driven changes of static magnetic properties in parabolic nanostripes. We demonstrate the influence of geometrical parameters on the equilibrium magnetic states for the large range of the parabolic stripe geometries. We established experimentally and numerically that the homogeneous magnetic distribution along the parabolic stripe is the equilibrium state for the entire range of investigated geometrical parameters.

This work is the result of a fruitful cooperation between the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf e.V. and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (group of Dr. Florian Kronast).

The original work is published in Physica Status Solidi (RRL) - Rapid Research Letter 13, 1800309 (2019). URLPDF

12/2018

Paper featured on the cover page of Small

Our paper on the realization of visible light driven Ag/AgCl Janus particles is highlighted with an inside front cover page of Small.

In this work we present experimental and theoretical study of visible light-driven Ag/AgCl Janus micromotors revealing high-motility in pure H2O. We demonstrate that the propulsion efficiency is dependent on the intensity of visible light and complemented by the coupled effect of the plasmonic light absorption of Ag/AgCl and the efficient photochemical decomposition of AgCl. We address the application potential of Ag/AgCl micromotors in various physiological solutions and polluting agents.

Our paper on the realization of highly compliant on-skin compass is highlighted with a cover page of the November issue of Nature Electronics.

An electronic-skin compass, which is fabricated on 6-um-thick polymeric foils and accommodates magnetic field sensors based on the anisotropic magnetoresistance effect, allows a person to orient with respect to Earth’s magnetic field and to manipulate objects in virtual reality. The cover shows a scanning electron microscopy image of the compass under a bending radius of 200 um.

The original work is published in Nature Electronics 1, 589 (2018). URLLink

11/2018

Magnetosensitive e-skins lead the way

Augmented reality devices are destined to be an integral part of our information intensive society, assisting us to acquire data and process information. We envision that future augmented reality systems will rely on compliant on-skin interactive electronics. When equipped with motion tracking sensory systems, electronic skins would offer complimentary information on the surrounding and enable novel means of manipulating physical or even virtual objects. We here demonstrate the very first electronic skin capable of perceiving direction in space based on the interaction with geomagnetic field exclusively. Our highly compliant magnetosensory system enables real time tracking of the position of a body in space as well as the touchless manipulation of virtual objects based on the biomagnetic orientation as needed for virtual and augmented reality applications.

Our paper on the collective motion of visible-light-actuated AgCl-based Janus particles is highlighted with a frontispiece page of Small.

We demonstrate that visible-light-actuated plasmonic Ag/AgCl-based spherical Janus micromotors reveal efficient exclusion effect to surrounding passive beads in pure H2O. The exclusion efficiency is controlled by the number of single Janus particles composing micromotors. We determine the system-specific interaction parameter between Janus micromotors and passive beads. The availability of these system-specific information assures predictive power for further theoretical analysis of the complex dynamics of these heterogeneous active-passive systems.